PHILADELPHIA | Comcast Technology Center | 1,121 FT | 60 FLOORS

[Baconboy007]

Originally Posted by wanderer34

Comcast Center is dominating only due to height; it doesn't do much in terms of cultural importance.

The Phillies won a world series after it was complete.

[shakman]

Good grief!!! What is the next excuse? "The design of this tower will create traffic gridlock?!?!?!? "

[iheartphilly]

There are some more rendering of CITC from Foster and Partner website. It is located under the "Development" section of this project. I don't know how to upload the pics and I think some of these give a closer look and detail of the building.

See link:
http://www.fosterandpartners.com/pro...nology-center/

[tower]

i reckon the illusion that this building is shorter than it really is will diminish when viewed directly from the west:



here are the rest from the link iheartphilly just posted

[tower]

on another note, the comcast building gives the illusion of another setback on one side of the citc. imagining both sides with the setback would make for a perhaps a more interesting design indeed. i'll still take it though

[tower]

something like this:

[Tom Servo]

Man. I'm a big fan of Foster's work. And I'm trying to like this. But that fin! Why the fin?! This could be such an amazing building if it weren't for that bizarre design flaw.

[tower]

i don't understand peoples complaints about "the fin". are you suggesting this building would actually look better with the spire completely removed and standing shorter than the comcast center?

[Tom Servo]

Yes. Absolutely. Its height has no baring on my opinion. I'm not impressed by height; I'm impressed by good design. And I really think this building would be beautiful it were not for the fin/spire/spine thing.

I am a fan of Norman Foster. That is the only reason I'm commenting on it.

[looper121]

Originally Posted by Tom Servo

Yes. Absolutely. Its height has no baring on my opinion. I'm not impressed by height; I'm impressed by good design. And I really think this building would be beautiful it were not for the fin/spire/spine thing.

I am a fan of Norman Foster. That is the only reason I'm commenting on it.

I completely disagree. If you remove the fin abruptly, the design doesn't stand on its own. It would look awkward.

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by looper121

I completely disagree. If you remove the fin abruptly, the design doesn't stand on its own. It would look awkward.

The bracing I think is what does it. Gives it the aesthetic appeal.

[Mappy]

Originally Posted by tower

something like this:

THAT is what any additional setbacks should look like if they were to tweak the design...

[The straight-on perspective here really shows my earlier point that a thinner section on top of the hotel would be impossible because it would basically be as wide as a bank of elevators.]

...But the slight adjustments that would hide and mirror the old Comcast Center would be beautiful. It even further accentuates the the neo-art-deco concept too. It also sort of looks like a keystone, which seems appropriate.

AND think of the Christmas decoration possibilities on the tower! (even as designed now)

[JawKneeQuest]

Keep in mind NBC10 once occupied another iconic building with a fin.

[Philly-Drew]

JawKneeQuest, awesome pic man! Wow! That raises a couple of questions:

Where was that Building?
When approx do you think that pic was taken?
When did NBC occupy that building?

[theWatusi]

Originally Posted by Philly-Drew

JawKneeQuest, awesome pic man! Wow! That raises a couple of questions:

Where was that Building?
When approx do you think that pic was taken?
When did NBC occupy that building?

WCAU, a CBS affiliate until 1995, occupied that building (1622 Chestnut Street) until 1952 when they moved to City Ave.

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by theWatusi

WCAU, a CBS affiliate until 1995, occupied that building (1622 Chestnut Street) until 1952 when they moved to City Ave.

And that building is still there:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Ins...f_Philadelphia

[Insoluble]

Originally Posted by Philly-Drew

JawKneeQuest, awesome pic man! Wow! That raises a couple of questions:

Where was that Building?
When approx do you think that pic was taken?
When did NBC occupy that building?

I absolutely love that building

Philaphilia did a writeup of this one a while back:

Philaphilia,WCAU Broadcast Building I(aka WHYY Building, aka Art Institute of Philadelphia)

If you think that pic is awesome and you don't read Philaphilia and then you seriously need to start.


(Also, count me in the pro-fin camp. I think it acts as a terrific unifying element to the building and pulls things together. It makes up for the somewhat boring top of Comcast Center too.)

[Cro Burnham]

I am thrilled to pieces with this design. It wouldn't be hyperbole to suggest that this could be the best new skyscraper in Philadelphia since the Great Depression . . . not saying a whole lot, I know - Philly's set of postwar towers are generally neither offensive nor remarkable.

But, like a few others, I am somewhat disappointed that they couldn't have tacked on a couple hundred extra feet. Looks like the proposed roof line is at about 900'+/-.

900' feet is great, but not monster dominant as I would have wished. Comcast 1 will appear taller, for sure. But to me, an 1,100+ foot roof line, setting it about equivalent to Chicago's Hancock or Standard Oil, would have been a perfect benchmark height. They're so close as it is with this building, and Comcast seems like it will likely take most of the space . . . seems like it wouldn't destroy the economics to add an extra 10 floors of office and make a real mark on the skyline.

Normally I'd never suggest such a thing, but this will be our last chance for a long time to get a genuine supertall on the scale of the US's most dominating and awesome big-league towers: Sears, Hancock, WTC, Standard Oil. This design puts this building in the next tier down: with the towers already in Philly, LA, Seattle, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas. I'd have liked to see us comfortably in with the Chicago/NY biggies.

[R5Ryder]

Serious question - are the days of non-all-glass skyscrapers over? Like will we ever see another Hancock tower built in the US? Or even something like Mellon or the BAT? I think Comcast Center would have been much more interesting had the inner pyramid (or whatever it's called) had marble strips like the Liberties do, or was at least not simply all glass. As it stands, it looks great (just my opinion of course) when viewed from the East and West, decent when viewd from the North (with the shorter "window"), but putrid from the South. When looking north from South Philly or the stadiums, it's just way too wide, and that large window is just very awkward looking. Additionally, the lighting isn't nearly as dramatic as it could be, since it changes so abruptly at the top where the tub is. It doesn't look nearly as cohesive as it could be. I stand by my point that a building like that is fine for a tallest, as its "plainness" does draw your eye to the Liberties, but then when you do stare at it you realize it isn't that plain, but it just wasn't pulled off correctly.

CITC just looks very awkward to me, like there were several ideas for the tower and a committee just mashed them all together into one. I'm happy about any development in my city, and I really hope that it gets built, but I just think it could have a better design.

[TheOldMan]

I would also like to see some prominent non-all glass buildings as well (that 16th and vine proposal looks interesting). Comcast may elect to build another tall tower in Philly as a result of its acquisition of Time Warner.

However, I don't think the acquisition will impact the CITC. Perhaps the next significant proposal for the city will be mix of glass and stone or other materials.